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Kuwait The $1.2bn refinancing being sought by Equate Petrochemical Company through arrangers and underwriters Arab Banking Corp, APICORP, Chase Manhattan plc, Citibank International plc, Gulf International Bank, Gulf Investment Co, Kuwait Finance House, JP Morgan Securities Ltd and the National Bank of Kuwait has been a resounding success in syndication.

MORGAN STANLEY has achieved a notable success with its one-stop leveraged financing for Neopost SA. The innovatively structured financing package is the Wall Street firm's first coup in the European leveraged finance market and sees another competitor firmly enter the fray for this type of business.

MORGAN STANLEY Dean Witter completed its Ffr2.5bn one-stop leveraged financing facility for franking machine producer and distributor Neopost with a Ffr500m high yield issue last Friday. The deal was more than twice oversubscribed and was priced at the tight end of the indicated range of 237.5bp to 262.5bp over Pibor.

THE KINGDOM of Morocco is returning to the syndicated loan market after an absence of more than 15 years. Speculation that the country has been planning to re-establish its name among international bank lenders has been circulating since July following recently successes for Tunisia and, most recently, several Egyptian borrowings.

* Ciba Specialty Chemicals, the spin-off company from the Novartis merger, has set up a $2bn Euro-MTN programme, signalling the arrival of the recently formed company in the international capital markets. Set up at the beginning of this year, Ciba Specialty Chemicals has moved quickly to establish its credentials in the market, taking out a Sfr1.5bn syndicated loan and seeking ratings from international ratings agencies. Setting up a Euro-MTN programme was the next logical step, it said.

* Canada Rating: Aa2/AA+

ING Barings opened up a new asset class of Russian risk last Friday, running the books on a $100m Euro/144A issue for the Oblast of Nizhniy Novgorod -- the first of Russia's regions to tap the international bond markets. With a 8.75% coupon, the Ba2/BB- rated transaction was priced to yield 280bp over US Treasuries at the issue fixed re-offer price of 99.742 -- at the midpoint of the 270bp-290bp indicative pricing range and flat to where the similarly rated City of St Petersburg's $300m 9.50% five year issue was trading at the time. By this Thursday's close in London the deal had traded up to 100.05/100.15, with the spread tightening to 273bp/270bp on a bid/offer basis.

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BRAZILIAN oil company Petrobras is planning an ambitious 20 year dollar deal and a 10 year lira transaction as part of a liability management programme aimed at raising more than $500m in the markets. Bankers have been asked to submit bids on a $150m to $200m 20 year and the equivalent in 10 year lire. News of the impending deals follows Petrobras's issuance this week of $150m worth of three year floating rate notes at 130bp over Libor via Chase.

* World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

* Roadshows for the Euromarket debut from Russian power company Mosenergo via Salomon Brothers were completed this week, and the issue should be launched late next week. Positive feedback from investor presentations in Europe and the US should allow Mosenergo's inaugural debt offering to emerge at the top of the $150m-$200m indicative range.

THE SHAKE UP in the investment banking industry continued this week when Travelers Group, the financial conglomerate which owns US brokerage Smith Barney, announced that it is to acquire Salomon Inc for $9bn. As part of the deal, Smith Barney will merge with Salomon Brothers to form a new company, Salomon Smith Barney. The aim of the merger will be to combine Smith Barney's domestic strength in equities, asset management, municipal finance and retail distribution with Salomon's strength in the international fixed income markets.